Victims of Their Own Success?

LONDON

VICTIMS OF THEIR OWN SUCCESS? over the last twenty years, more and more people have begun travelling to and from different destinations all over the world with ease. Although the rapidly growing tourism industry is bringing billions of visitor pounds to our cities, certain popular attractions in the uk are struggling to cope with the pressures of increasing visitor numbers. Modern development has besieged historical landmarks and delicate environments. Cities popular with tourists are constantly finding the need to adapt in order to accommodate to the needs of the increasing number of visitors.

London, the bustling capital city of england, is constantly adapting in order to accommodate a rapidly increasing number of tourists As well as it's 8.5 million citizens. In 2013 alone, 16.8 million people visited london. visitor numbers have increased 43% in the last ten years and each year tourists spend approximately ÂŁ15 billion in london. It's safe to say that the tourism industry in the city isn't slowing down any time soon, with Around 13% of people that work in london being employed in the tourism sector. The city plays host to some of the world's most famous tourist attractions and is home to hundreds of museums, galleries and theatres as well as the world's oldest underground rail network, which is used by 4 million people every single day. But how has the increase in tourism and constant architectural development affected london's historical landmarks?

Have tourist attractions in the uk become a victim of their own success? Walk over Westminster bridge today and you will find yourself battling with hundreds of toursits to get a photograph of big ben. The bridge is lined with souvenir stalls and touts trying to coax naive tourists into paying extortionate prices for a novelty open-top bus tour of the city.

boats called Passive Driftwood Collectors have been brought in to filter out litter and debris from the River Thames. Each year more than 400 tonnes of rubbish is removed from the river. Taxis ferrying tourists between buckingham palace and trafalgar square queue to get through admiralty arch. The building was commissioned by King Edward vII in memory of his mother Queen victoria and was built in 1912. Plans have recently been made to transform the arch into a five-star luxury hotel.

A statue of boadicea, Queen of the iceni tribe of britons on westminster pier. The statue was erected in 1902 and nowadays finds itself overwhelmed by gaudy souvenirs and con artists.

today, nelson's column acts as more of a climbing frame for photo opportunities than a historical landmark. The column was built to commemorate admiral nelson in 1843 and still stands in trafalgar square.

The Tower of london, parts of which were constructed as early as 1068, has been engulfed by modernisation and is surrounded by skyscrapers and state-of-the-art architecture.

YORK York was founded by the romans in 71 AD and was captured by the vikings in 866 AD. today york is still encircled by the city walls built in the 13th century. Approximately 7 million tourists visit york each year, spending about ÂŁ600 million, and 1 in 5 jobs in the city are involved in the tourism sector. York is home to many of england's historical landmarks, the most famous attraction being york minster, The biggest gothic cathedral in northern europe, which took 250 years to build. york is also popular for it's large variety of shops, museums and pubs (at one point there was the same number of pubs in the city as days in the year!)

products of london's massive architectural development over the last 50 years tower over custom house, which was built in 1813 and still serves as a base for hm revenue & customs, the uk tax authority.

alfred newton and son

The tallest building in europe at 310 metres high, the shard, looms over the tower of london. This is a prime example of the modernisation of the city of london.

petergate, named because of it's proximity to the minster which was dedicated to st peter, was originally the main route into york from the north. one house on the street claims to be have been the home of guy fawkes, the gunpowder plot perpetrator. now divided into high petergate and low petergate, the area is now popular among tourists for it's selection of pubs, restaurants and shops.

A photograph of petergate taken between 1870-1920 compared to what is found today. overlooked by the minster, Petergate is now one of the most popular streets in york with tourists enjoying the plethora of shops and eating spots.

york press

unemployed citizens of york queue outside the ministry of labour employment exchange during the great depression. In 2015, the building finds itself home to a disney store. english heritage

The shambles is the most popular street in york for tourists to visit, with many of it's original features still in-tact. on the left, children in victorian clothes look out at the tourists of 2015 enjoying a spot of shopping.

OLD UK PHOTOS

a photograph taken of parliament street in york during the 1950's shows classic cars sitting in front of what is now a popular marks and spencer department store. nathaniel lloyd

leeds Bootham bar, parts of which have existed since the 11th century, is one of the four main gateways to the city walls of york. originally, gateways, known as bars, were used as to extract tolls and as defensive positions of war, but now are used as tunnels through which thousands of cars pass each day to the city centre.

As well as seeing an increase in tourism, leeds has experienced a massive rise in population over recent years. Today, the city has a population of 757,000, students alone accounting for 65,000 of the citizens in the uk's third largest city. Since the growth in the student demographic over the last 20 years, it has become apparent that leeds continues to adapt in order to accommodate this massive portion of the population. Approximately 2.5 million people visit leeds each year, spending around ÂŁ655 million. Over the last 20 years, leeds has witnessed a massive expenditure on regenerating the city, making what was known as a small industrial town a mere shadow of the modern bustling city we know today.

george washington wilson

Leeds library and information services newton and son

stonegate has been one of the central streets of york for over 2000 years. today, stonegate is a popular shopping area among tourists. modern development has engulfed the original features of the street, as proved by the starbucks coffee shop on the right.

a store on albion street in leeds on the 20th september 1935. standing there today is A mcdonalds restaurant, famous for being popular with drunken students in the early hours of the morning on their way home from nearby nightclubs.